Learn
by snowelle
Summary: The girl with the broken past…the blooming artist with no place to go…the ballerina breaking under pressure…the athlete with scars of overworking. All four needing that push. That one push that will teach them that life is about forgiveness, acceptance, and learning how to move on. Contestshipping, Oldrivalshipping, Pokeshipping, Ikarishipping
1. Prologue

**This is my first ever story! I'm so excited to get this started and I really want you guys to review :) I really love feedback. But before all that, please read this little prologue/teaser that I have prepared for y'all. **

**- Snow**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters in this story**

* * *

_Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting things go. It is about letting mistakes be mistakes and the past remain in the past. Life is short, and moving on is the one way we all mature. _

* * *

Rain peppered the grass of the cemetery with drops of crystal water. The sky was cloudy, dark and grim, casting a shadow over the damp ground. There, in that cemetery stood hundreds of people, all quiet and mourning. A coffin could be seen being lowered into the ground with precision. Women cried, their tears mixing with the steadily increasing rainfall. The men had their heads hung low, holding back tears in fear of losing their dignity. Children remained silent. Only the soft pattering of rain could be heard in the cemetery. The man in the very front stood tall and straight with a solemn expression, staring out into the sea of people clad in dark clothing.

"Today, is a day we will always remember." The man began, grabbing the attention of all standing.

"My daughter, the most beautiful girl I will ever have known, has gained her wings today. We are very sad to see her leave us. And we are never going to forget her. We lost someone so young with such a promising future and the person who is responsible for this will remain nameless. But that person will remember that, while our daughter may be gone from this earth, she will never be gone from our memories."

The silence seemed to grow deadlier, tension so thick that it could be cut with a knife. All of the people turned to look at the girl standing in the corner of the graveyard. Her hair hung limp on her shoulders and sobs racked her body. Accusing eyes looked towards her with hate and deadly passion.

The girl continued to sob, hoping the rain would wash her away to nothing.

* * *

Shouts echoed through the halls of the small apartment. The sound of breaking glass and objects being thrown grew louder and louder… and louder.

"I don't know why I ever married you!"

"Go to hell! I don't want to see your face."

The shouting escalated along with the sounds of breaking objects. Through the turmoil, a young girl sat. Curled up in a little ball, she kept whispering to herself the things she was afraid to say aloud.

"Please…please stop." The shouting grew louder.

"Please!" She sobbed into her knees. Outside, lightning flashed adding to the girl's growing frustration. She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"That's enough! I'm getting out of this house!" A few more shouts could be heard before a door slammed loudly.

"No…no don't leave mom." The girl whispered again. But her pleas were shrouded with the discordant sound of thunder and her wishes disappeared along with her feeling of hope. "Your mother and I have decided that we can't live together anymore. You are going to take turns living with each of us." The father spoke to the girl after entering the room, not paying attention to her bloodshot eyes. "W-why?" She whispered. The man glared and slammed the door shut, making the girl wince as if physical pain was inflicted upon her.

She prayed that night. Prayed to anyone who was listening that things would be better and that she could have her family back.

* * *

A girl dived into the waters of the pool. Her body was tiny, but she zipped across the water with the agility of a professional. She glided smoothly, flipping over and pedaling, practicing all of her techniques. Her hair was pulled up into a topknot with a blue swimming cap pulled over it. She made several laps around the pool before slipping back out of the water and checking the stopwatch. Her face turned into a frown.

"I'm eight minutes and 34 seconds away from her." She quickly dashed to the shower rooms to shower and change before exiting the pool area. She started to jog, now wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

After reaching the front door of her house, she stopped and checked the stopwatch again. It read 25 minutes.

"15 minutes away from her." The girl muttered before entering the house.

Her ankle, wrapped in several bandages, ached with every step she took, but the pain seemed to fuel her energy.

She quickly ran over to her training mat and began to count pushups. Sweat dripped down her forehead and her ankle was swollen from her efforts. She collapsed after ten minutes, the pain in her ankle becoming unbearable.

"F-fifteen away from…the record." She panted, slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Come on darling, lift your leg a little higher! You won't get anywhere like this!" A woman with graying hair and a permanent frown stared down a little girl in a pink and white leotard.

"I'm sorry miss. I'll try a little harder." The girl broke into her routine again, leaping across the room with one leg high in the air, landing perfectly on her toes. The woman's frown grew deeper.

"That won't do. Your balance is off. You'd better keep practicing, I have to go tutor other students now, but that jump better be perfect by the time I get back or you are not going to have anything to eat today. Am I understood?" The girl nodded in understanding, bowing her head low, tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

Later that same evening, the girl sat perfectly straight at the table with her two parents. Each parent eyed her critically.

"I heard that your jump is not improving very much." The father spoke in a menacing way, glaring at the girl. The girl nodded, unable to speak.

"Sit up straighter! You're going to disgrace our family at an event sitting like that." The mother shouted. The girl straightened her back even more. On her plate was a measly portion of lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. A half empty glass of water stood to the side of the plate.

The girl ate silently, spitting her food out into her napkin every once in a while. She didn't want to eat. She felt sick from being criticized, analyzed, and scolded every few seconds.

Her eyes were glazed over with moisture and she excused herself to the bathroom. The minute she got to the toilet, all of the food in her stomach was vomited out.

The girl cried silently, in fear of being heard. In fear of being looked upon with those critical eyes.

* * *

**And there you have it. The prologue of my first story, Learn. I hope you all enjoyed it, I worked super hard on it! Like I totally neglected a really important project to write this (something you should never do and I do because I'm an idiot who can't get her priorities straight).**

**I really appreciate feedback and I will be updating this as soon as I can get the next chapter written. This was extremely short so I'll make up for it next chapter. So for now,**

**Ciao! **

**- Snow**


	2. Changes

**I'd like to begin with a GIANT thanks to all of the people who viewed, reviewed, and liked this story. I love you guys so much and thanks for giving me a warm welcome to the world of Fanfiction :) Words cannot express my happiness right now. I will definitely continue this story, it's now decided. **

**I know the prologue is just a little depressing but, trust me, it's all necessary background information that's going to make a lot more sense later on. If you still haven't guessed who's who, I'm sure it'll be obvious in a matter of chapters. **

**So here's Chapter One of Learn. I've decided that my upload dates will be Mondays and Fridays. If I don't upload on a Friday, I'll upload the next Monday and vice-versa. Actually, if I feel like it, I might occasionally upload on other days but it's unlikely since I have school too. After I have a solid base for this fic, I might start another one but it won't be Pokemon, it'll probably be a naruto or soul eater fic. But I will have more pokemon ones in the future. **

**So enjoy chapter one guys!**

**- Snow **

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any of the characters in this fanfiction story that aren't OCs**

* * *

_Lights. Blinding lights. Dancing through her hair, shining through the trees, illuminating the dark. People swirling around, laughing, dancing, talking the night away. She stood there and laughed too. But her eyes were hollow, her hair limp on her shoulders. A crash, a burn. Screaming. Eyes trained on her as she started to cry. All of a sudden, everything was red. That horrid, horrid color. Red. Red. Red..._

May woke up, fear just fleeing her blue eyes. Her room was just starting to fill with the light of dawn, the sun that was steadily rising above the horizon.

She sighed and fell back on the soft mattress. "Just a dream..." She whispered.

Beads of sweat rolled down her neck. May felt like she had just run a marathon without drinking water. Her throat was so dry. She hoisted herself up and stared at the wall.

_Fire. Burning. Destruction. _

She shook her head and forced a smile.

"It's just a dream, May, just a dream."

As she carefully got out of bed, she could feel her hair distastefully stick to her neck. Cringing she took a look in the mirror. Half of her light brown hair stuck up in awkward clumps and the rest stuck to her neck like super glue.

She gave herself a once over and couldn't stop the disgusted look that came across her face. "I so wouldn't date me right now."

May sighed once more and stalked toward her bathroom.

* * *

After a long, hot shower, the brunette bounced down the stairs of the house. The kitchen light, she discovered, had already been turned on and two of her friends sat at the table in the dining room feasting on pancakes.

"Gosh you're always so late May." Leaf sputtered, her mouth full of pancake. A mess of powdered sugar surrounded her plate and Leaf's dark brown hair had a suspicious powdery tint to it.

"Considering the amount of powdered sugar you got in your hair, Leaf, I don't think me being five minutes late will change our tardiness." May replied, plopping herself next to Misty, her other friend who was clicking away on her laptop. Misty gave May a quick glance.

"You look nice." Misty commented, blowing a piece of her red hair out of her face.

May smiled, picking at her soft red sweater and crossing her legs which were covered in black leggings. "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."

Misty's cerulean eyes lit up and she flickered her eyes over to May. The redhead was wearing a green v-neck and skinny jeans, an outfit that made her already expressive eyes pop. "You really think so? I wanted to look good for our first day back from Winter break."

"That is definitely your color." Leaf added. She had patted some of the powdered sugar out of her gray yoga pants and blue sweatshirt but most of it still stuck to her like glue. The green-eyed brunette sighed in annoyance. "I love powdered sugar so much but why does it have to be so damn messy?"

May giggled and handed Leaf several napkins. "That's a nice look you've got there Leaf."

Leaf stuck her tongue out. "Shut up May."

The three girls finished their breakfast in comfortable silence. Leaf had managed to wipe away all traces of powdered sugar from her body. Misty clicked away on the laptop with May leaning over her shoulder.

"Why are you looking at the school website Mist?" May asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Misty sipped casually at her orange juice. "I was looking at the news this morning and it said that a few girls decided to start a strip club."

Leaf snickered. "What, Mist, you thinking of joining or something?" Misty shot Leaf a glare.

"No," The redhead began, "I just wanted to see who started the club. I am the student council president after all, I need to keep some of this stuff under control."

"Right." Leaf said, giving Misty a teasing glance.

"Hey, guys, we're kind of late for school." May added cautiously. Misty's eyes widened and she glanced at the clock before snapping her laptop shut.

"Let's go then, I have a meeting during homeroom." Misty pulled on her converse and started out the door, car keys in hand.

"Hello? Forgetting someone?" A fourth voice chimed in from the bottom of the stairs. Dawn flipped a strand of perfectly curled, navy blue hair and blinked her cobalt blue eyes.

"Oh, right, you." Misty added, rolling her eyes.

Dawn pouted. "What is with that tone? You can't exactly go to school without me you know!"

"That's debatable." May muttered, earning her a punch in the shoulder from said blunette. The blue eyed brunette rubbed her shoulder and faked a whimper earning her Dawn's signature eye roll.

"Whatever guys, I don't even care anymore. Let's just go." Dawn huffed as she walked out of the house, only to trip on her heels. "Shit, I almost ripped my leggings!"

"That's what you get for wearing heels when there's snow on the ground." Misty called from inside their black car. Dawn continued to pout her way into the car. Once all four girls were seated safely in the car, Misty turned and met the eyes of all her friends. They all gave her their own signature smiles.

"So, are we ready to rock the last semester of Junior year or what?"

* * *

May, Leaf, Misty, and Dawn walked into the school just as the warning bell for five minutes rang. Misty panicked and started running towards the student council room.

"I'll catch up with you guys later, I have a meeting!" Misty nearly ran into several people as her tall figure disappeared in the crowd of Bell High students.

"She needs to just slow down." Leaf said, shaking her head as Misty nearly ran into a really scary football player.

May laughed and started walking to her own homeroom. "I'll see you guys later, Ms. Cynthia is going to explode."

"Dawn and I should probably start heading to Faulkner's too, he isn't going to be happy if I get another detention." Leaf sighed, picking at her nails.

"Bye May!" Dawn shouted after the brunette who just gave a slight wave before breaking into a dash.

May reached her homeroom just in time for the bell to ring. The room was fairly noisy; girls were flirting and boys were...well, being boys. Ms. Cynthia sat at her own desk, nose buried deep into a book and oblivious to the many guys who were blatantly ogling her. She glanced up at May with her feline eyes.

"May, glad to see you could join us."

May smiled sheepishly, rubbing her hands together nervously. "Sorry I was almost late Ms. Cynthia." Ms. Cynthia sighed and jerked her head towards may seat, making her long blonde ponytail swish.

May walked quietly over to her window seat. Sunlight streamed in through the large windows, illuminating her desk with a warm glow that made her smile. She really did love her seat. The only real issue she had with her homeroom was the fact that she was the only one out of her friends who was in a different homeroom. Although Misty was normally at student council meetings during the one hour homeroom period, she was still technically in the same homeroom as Dawn and Leaf, making May the only one who wasn't in Mr. Faulkner's class. Most of the time, May sat quietly in the corner unless a few people decided to be talk to her. Now, May was a social person, just not with the type of people who were in her class. She was stuck with most of the popular kids and the girls so preppy that their shirts couldn't even stay down below their navels.

As Ms. Cynthia took attendance, May took out a book she had started over break and started to get into it. That was the only thing she did during homeroom unless her friends decided to call an emergency bathroom meeting.

After around ten minutes, Ms. Cynthia cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt you guys but I have an announcement." The room grew silent, everyone suddenly watching the young teacher.

"Well, it turns out we have a new addition to our homeroom. I received a call several minutes ago about a homeroom transfer I was unaware of." That caught everyone's attention; people rarely transferred homerooms.

"I'm almost certain most of you know him already." She began. An excited chatter passed over the room. May tilted her head in confusion. She had never heard of a homeroom transfer before, certainly not of a popular guy.

"I'm sure I can introduce myself pretty well Cynthia." A deep voice echoed through the room. All heads whipped to the classroom door. A boy with green hair and matching emerald eyes leaned against the doorway with a smirk on his face.

Ms. Cynthia's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "That's _Miss _Cynthia to you Mr. Hayden. Take a seat please." She gestured to the seat closest to the door.

Meanwhile, May had already lost interest. She had several classes with Drew and learned not to pay too much attention too him or she'd feel like slapping the knowing smirk that always was on his face. Thankfully, she wasn't picked on that much during class and always sat in a seat completely opposite from his to avoid confrontation. She didn't fare well with guys like him.

"Maybelle." May glanced up from her book to meet eye-to-eye with Brianna, a preppy girl who was dating the quarterback of the football team.

"What is it Brianna?" May asked, glancing back down at her book. She could feel the annoyed look Brianna was giving her.

"Isn't Drew, like, soooooo hot?" Brianna asked with a dreamy look in her hazel eyes. May shrugged, not looking up from her book.

"He's...meh."

"Meh? Meh?! That's all you can say about a God like him transferring to _our_ homeroom?" Brianna screeched, not losing the dreamy look in her eyes.

May glanced towards Drew and then back at Brianna. "He's not really as attractive as people claim he is. Or as he claims he is. Plus, don't you already have a boyfriend Brianna?"

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Sure I have a boyfriend. Does it matter? Brent is hot and all he's just not...Drew hot."

"I'm sure Brent would be _pleased _to hear that." May retorted, going back to her book and drowning out Brianna's arguments. After Brianna finished her monologue and stomped back to her seat, May sneaked a tiny glance at Drew. He was still smirking and laughed at a girl's joke. She could feel her cheeks go slightly pink but she slapped herself out of it.

"No May, you can't..." She muttered to herself.

* * *

Dawn picked at her blue t-shirt with a bored expression on her face. Math class just seemed to never end and she was itching to get to lunch. Mr. Wake's monotone didn't really help her situation.

"So, about our math research project, you all should have a topic picked by next Monday." Mr. Wake droned on and Dawn felt like shooting her ears off. She also had to pick a topic for the subject she hated the most which was enough to drive her crazy. She focused her attention on her desk, which was more interesting than the class at this point. She also hated her desk though. It squeaked every time she moved a muscle, even when she breathed.

"Since we've covered most of what we needed to today, I'll let you go to the library for the remaining 20 minutes so you can research your topic." Mr. Wake said and all the students jumped up with excitement and fled the room in one instant. Before Dawn could even comprehend anything, everyone had deserted the room, minus a super smart Freshman boy who seemed slightly disappointed that class had ended.

"Miss Berlitz." Mr. Wake called just as Dawn was about to leave the room. Dawn started to sweat a little.

'_Shit'_ She thought in panic.

She turned around, nevertheless, and gave Mr. Wake her best cheer leading smile. "Yes Mr. Wake?"

Mr. Wake frowned. "Wipe that smile off your face Miss Berlitz, you know what I'm going to talk to you about."

Dawn sighed and nodded. "Yes sir."

"Your grades on the semi-final were less than satisfactory young lady. Did you not study? At all?"

"I did study sir." Dawn bit her lip begging for a hole to open up in the floor and swallow her whole. Being interrogated by Mr. Wake was never a fun experience.

"And yet you still managed to get a 53 percent? What is the issue Dawn? All your other finals were at least above a C plus."

"I-I don't know sir."

Mr. Wake sighed and handed Dawn a slip of paper. "Go to this room. He should be waiting for you there."

Dawn gave the math teacher a confused look. "He?"

"Yes, your tutor. Go to him, I know you have all three lunches today." Mr. Wake crossed his muscly arms and stared down at Dawn's petite figure. She gulped and nodded, all but sprinting out of the door.

"Tutor? Tutor?!" Dawn yelled in frustration once she was well away from the classroom. "I don't need a fucking _tutor!_" Dawn kicked a trash can in her attempt to be dramatic and whimpered quietly from the resulting pain.

"This is so troublesome." A deep voice startled her behind her. She whipped herself around and came face to face with a tall boy with purple hair and onyx eyes that seemed to be set into a glare. Dawn felt like ripping her hair out.

"Please don't tell me you're my tutor."

* * *

Leaf Green wasn't a particularly dramatic girl. She liked peace, calmness, and worry-free situations. So why was it that one boy, one stupid playboy, could make her snap so easily?

"Leafy, come on, don't be so dramatic." The boy with spiky, auburn hair called to her. She shot him her best glare.

"I wouldn't have to be if you weren't so insufferable, Gary." She replied tartly. Gary rolled his brown eyes at her and smirked.

"Please Leaf, you know you love me."

"I know of no such emotion towards _you_ of all people." She bit back. Gary made a dramatic "hurt" gesture.

"That stings Leafy. That stings deep."

"Nice to know that you're capable of feeling anything deep."

Gary smirked suggestively. "I'm capable of feeling a lot of things babe, if you just gave me a chance." Leaf felt a blush crawl up her neck.

"Shut your mouth Gary Oak, I'm not in the mood."

Leaf picked up her walking pace to lunch, constantly being trailed by Gary and his incessant whining. Gary eventually caught up and stood in front of her.

"Just help me get this one girl. Just one girl! And I'll do anything, I promise you." He pleaded, giving Leaf his best puppy dog eyes. She rolled her eyes and pushed him out of her way.

"No way in hell Gary, get your own girl." She ran into the lunch room and Gary stopped his pursuit. She sighed and ran into the bathroom. Once she was in a stall, she slid down and closed her dark green eyes.

"I'm sorry Gary."

* * *

"Two more laps Misty!" Misty picked up her running speed, trying not to run out of breath. She was well ahead of everyone else in her gym class but she still needed to beat her personal record. Everything around her turned into a blur of color and light as she zoomed around the track with the agility of a cheetah. Many people had stopped their own running just to watch her go.

"You did it Misty, you beat your record!" A petite blonde named Becca gave Misty a big hug. Misty smiled.

"What was my time." She said, breathless and desperately trying to swipe red hair out of her face.

"6:03, you beat your record by ten seconds." Misty smiled contently.

"Throw me a towel, would you Becca?" Becca nodded and ran to get Misty a towel. The redhead downed her water bottle and gasped. Running the mile gave her a thrill she wouldn't get anywhere else.

Just as Becca arrived with Misty's towel, a commotion erupted from a different track. Misty glanced over to see a boy with spiky raven hair running across the track. He was smiling, something even she couldn't manage while running.

Just as the boy finished, a set of claps broke out from the people surrounding the track, mostly love struck fangirls.

"Ash that was amazing! You finished the mile in exactly 6 minutes!" One girl screamed loud enough for Misty to her. She could see Ash laughing and offering people hugs and high fives.

She nearly crushed her water bottle.

"Why am I three seconds off?" Misty muttered, a frown coming on her face. Becca gave her a worried look.

"Misty, you okay?"

Misty nodded but inside her, a turmoil was starting.

"I need to beat him."

* * *

**Sorry that it's been a while since I've uploaded! This is probably not a really good chapter because I was rushing to get it done and up so I will most likely revise it. Please remember to review!**

**Ciao, **

**Snow**


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